Hurricane Harvey – Donald and Melania Trump visit flood-stricken residents of Corpus Christi after worst rainfall in US history

The first lady donned black aviators and towering stilettos as she prepared to visit the disaster zone

By Richard Wheatstone

30th August 2017, 12:45 am

Updated: 30th August 2017, 2:30 am

DONALD Trump declared Texas can "handle anything" as he and wife Melania visited flood-stricken residents swamped by the worst rainfall in US history.

The president described the Biblical floods as "epic" and claimed: "Nobody's ever seen this much water", as he flew into Corpus Christi on Tuesday.

AFP or licensors

Trump waved the Texan flag upon his arrival in the Lone Star state

AP:Associated Press

Melania sat beside President Trump as they received a briefing on the catastrophic floods

AFP or licensors

The gesture was met with rapturous applause from waiting Texans

AP:Associated Press

Later today the First Lady slipped into a pair of white trainers as she arrived in Corpus Christi

Reuters

Melania wore a sports jacket, baseball cap and her sneakers as she stepped off Air Force One

Trump described the storm as the "biggest ever" and promised to 'rebuild' affected parts of Texas and Louisiana.

He told a press conference: "Nobody has ever seen anything like it. I've heard the words 'epic', I've heard 'historic' - and that's what it is.

"We ask God for his wisdom and strength. We will get through this. The rebuilding will begin. And in the end it will be something very special.

"We are one American family. We hurt together, we struggle together. And believe me, we endure together."

Getty Images - Getty

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump preparing to fly to Texas

Getty Images - Getty

Melania was seen dressed in sky-high heels and Aviator glasses

AFP or licensors

The heels saw her widely mocked on social media

The president's visit came after First Lady Melania raised eyebrows for her choice of footwear ahead of the walkabout in flood-ravaged Texas.

Melania was pictured alongside Trump as the pair prepared to meet emergency crews and victims in Corpus Christi and Austin today in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

But while the president was seen donning a windbreaker and brown boots as he left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the first lady went for a pair of black stilettos as she prepared to visit the disaster zone.

Within a few hours she had switched into a pair of white trainers and a baseball cab for the couple's arrival in Corpus Christi.

Getty Images - Getty

The pair flew from Maryland to the disaster zone

I will travel with @POTUS tomorrow to lend my support to the people of #Texas. We are with you!

Another added: "I'm confused. Is Melania flying Marine One or is there a Top Gun reunion in Texas?"

AFP or licensors

Forecasters fear Hurricane Harvey could still bring more devastation

Alamy Live News

Rescue workers bring in a family through rising flood waters in the Cypress Station neighbourhood of Houston

Getty Images - Getty

Texas Army National Guard members carry a rescued resident in Houston

The deadly storm has claimed the lives of at least 15 people and flood waters continue to rise after the worst hurricane to hit the region in 50 years.

An estimated 30,000 people will be displaced because of the heavy floods and there's fears the muddy waters could spark skin rashes, bacterial and viral infections and mosquito-borne disease.

People are most likely to drown, especially those who are trapped in vehicles, said Renee Funk, associate director for emergency management of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carbon monoxide poisoning from portable generators is another threat.

She said: "Unfortunately, we expect there will be people who die from that and people will be poisoned from it."

A year after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, regions in Louisiana and Mississippi affected by the flood reported a doubling of cases of neuroinvasive West Nile virus - cases in which the virus caused severe inflammation in the brain or spinal cord, said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

OAPs in a care home in Dickinson, Texas, sat waist-deep in water as Hurricane Harvey flooded their home

AP:Associated Press

People look at submerged cars on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey

AFP or licensors

The sum of money to fix the damage will be astronomical

Getty Images - Getty

Mari Zertuche walks through a flooded parking lot on the campus of Rice University

Another harrowing image shows OAPs sitting waist-deep in water in a flood-hit care home — and one of them is still knitting.

The group of 15 had to be rescued by helicopter in Dickinson, Texas, as Hurricane Harvey wrought havoc.
The storm has so far affected about a quarter of the Texas population, or 6.8 million people in 18 counties.

"The breadth and intensity of this rainfall is beyond anything experienced before," the National Weather Service said in a statement.

The city of Houston is braced for more rain and rescues today.

Officials started releasing even more water from reservoirs overwhelmed by Harvey - even though the move aimed at protecting downtown Houston could make already devastating flooding worse around thousands of homes.

Reuters

A rescue helicopter hovers in the background as an elderly woman and her poodle use an air mattress to float

AP:Associated Press

Corey Carpenter, 7, eats crackers in what used to be his cousin's garden in Bayside, Texas

AP:Associated Press

A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway in Houston

EPA

A US Coast Guard helicopter crew rescue one of five people from floodwaters in a southeastern Houston neighbourhood

EPA

Damaged buildings taken during an flight from Port Aransas to Port O'Connor

Getty Images - Getty

Drivers were forced to leave their vehicles in the water

AFP or licensors

President Trump has declared the natural disaster a federal emergency

EPA

A Coast Guard flood punt team staff help rescue residents from flooded areas

AFP or licensors

Houston is facing the worst storm in the Texas state history

President Donald Trump has issued a federal emergency declaration for Louisiana as a storm that's flooded Houston dumps heavy bands of rain on that state.

The natural disaster has dumped as much as 66cm of rain in some counties

Getty Images - Getty

A man checks his phone as he cycles through knee-deep water

Reuters

Pictured, Sterling Broughton is moved from a rescue boat on to a kayak in Dikinson, Texas

Reuters

Five people have died in the natural disaster, which has left 1,000 more stranded

AP:Associated Press

Emergency crews raced to pull people from cars and homes as the Category Four hurricane caused chest-deep flooding on some streets in Houston

AP:Associated Press

Pictured, a pensioner is rescued from her home in Brays Bayou, Texas, as the flood water continues to rise

EPA

Houston officials urge people to shelter in place and stay off flooded roadways

Getty Images - Getty

A dog is walked to safety in the plush River Oaks neighbourhood in Houston

Reuters

The damage will take years to recover from , officials have warned

EPA

A pick up truck is towed out of a flooded ditch in Houston

AP:Associated Press

The state has been hit by record levels of rainfall

Getty Images - Getty

A man uses a kayak to navigate a flooded street

Emergency crews raced to pull people from cars and homes as the hurricane caused chest-deep flooding on some streets in Houston.

Schools, airports and office buildings in Houston, home to about 2.3 million people, were ordered shut on Monday as scores of roads turned into rivers and chest-high water filled neighbourhoods in the low-lying city.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

Damages from Harvey, the hurricane and tropical storm ravaging Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast, are estimated to be well below those from major storms that have hit New Orleans and New York.

Hannover Re, one of the world's largest reinsurers, said that insured losses for Katrina in 2005 were around $80 billion, while losses for Sandy in 2012 were $36 billion.

"We are far from Katrina and Sandy in magnitude in the case of Hurricane Harvey," a spokeswoman for the company said.

Harvey was set to dump more rain on Houston on Monday, worsening flooding that has paralysed the United States' fourth-biggest city, forced thousands to flee and swollen rivers to levels not seen in centuries.

Getty Images - Getty

Schools, airports and office buildings in Houston, home to about 2.3 million people, were ordered shut today

Pets are evacuated from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas

Torrential rain also hit areas more than 150 miles away, swelling rivers upstream and causing a surge that was heading toward the Houston area.

Authorities ordered more than 50,000 people to leave parts of Fort Bend County, about 35 miles southwest of Houston as the Brazos River was set to crest at a record high of 59 feet this week, 14 feet above its flood stage.

Brazos County Judge Robert Hebert told reporters the forecast crest represents a high not seen in at least 800 years.